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Fantendo - Hivemind Holiday
Fantendo - Hivemind Holiday is a short story created by Exotoro created for the Snowytime Writing Contest. The story features appearances by many of the main characters in the New Fantendoverse such as Volt, Unten, Leah, Rachel, and more. It takes place chronologically during Season 1 of Fantendo Now and after Fantendo - Hivemind Halloween. Story Unten awoke. At first, he knew something was completely off because it wasn’t the couch he normally would sleep in, it was a big bed. As he pulled away the sheets really lazily, he didn’t quite get the room itself. It seemed unfamiliar to him, the mirror closet doors feeling utterly alien to him. Something shifted in the bed, which gave him an awful, awful feeling. Something was wrong. He slowly stepped back to the bed. Whatever it was in the bed shifted to right of the room, facing him. He wasn’t sure what it was yet and he wasn’t exactly ready to figure it out. A awakening snort came out and it stood up, with Unten suddenly realizing exactly what it was. Oh god… no… “Unten?” asked Rachel. She pulled back the covers of the bed and shut her eyes groggily before opening them slowly. “You okay?” she asked, as Unten backed away from her and walked back into the closet doors, a shuddering sound of cheap plastic iron rocking. “Unten…?” “Look, I don’t know what happened last night but…” Unten stammered. Rachel seemed worried but for him, not the situation. “...I don’t know what I’m going to do but…” Rachel got out of the bed and walked towards him. She looked down to him. “Unten, don’t tell me you had that dream again. The one where there’s a war and something called ‘The Threat’ exists and I don’t have this ring on my finger?” she said, holding up her hand. A dazzling blue diamond was held in place by a ring of shining light blue Sentelenium. Unten was now way more confused than he ever was. “I don’t… I don’t understand.” said Unten. Rachel grinned. “We’re married, silly,” She grabbed a necklace that was looped around Unten’s back. “They couldn’t exactly make a ring to fit over your… hand, so they just made a necklace out of the same materials. Unten are you okay? You can skip work today if you’re not feeling so well, it is the winter after all… sudden flus come up all the time...” Unten stammered. “Mar-married?” He cleared his throat. “I’m feeling fine… just a little disoriented I guess.” Rachel smiled back at him as she went over to the black drawer and got dressed. He looked over to the mirror and glanced at his blue necklace. He felt the Sentelenium links as he glanced at his bare neck. He opened up the closet and found a bunch of scarves, some he had never seen before. He grabbed a checkerboard one and tightened it around his neck. He headed out into the hallway and followed the railing down stairs to a Christmas tree that had already been decorated with all sorts of ornaments. He grabbed one and glanced at it, recognizing a family picture that had him in it but he had never so much as imagined, let alone seen. A family of three. His black-haired, chill, human wife. His blue, bristled fur self, looking at the camera and smiling with his star-shaped eyes wide open. And their adopted daughter, her Galvan Goggles lifted up to her black hair. They looked so happy. He heard the clank of a spoon against a bowl and walked over to the kitchen. Rachel and Robyn were eating whatever junk cereal they had grabbed and they looked at him. Rachel smiled at him and he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to feel disgusted or smile back. He uneasily smiled back as he grabbed a bowl from the cupboard and a spoon from the drawer, sitting down with his family. It was raining in Seattle today. “Is this real?” he suddenly asked in between bites of Mana Loops. Rachel looked at him and swallowed. “Yes, it’s real. Do you mind telling us your dream?” asked Rachel. She seemed kind of worried but also somewhat tired that he was still in utter belief about everything. Unten decided against telling the "dream". “Nah… just… felt real I guess. It’s like I forgot everything… ha.” Robyn looked up. “You remember me, right?” asked Robyn. Unten looked at her. “Yeah, how could I ever forget you?” asked Unten. Robyn seemed pretty happy with this answer. “Well, you remember me, right?” asked Rachel. Unten could never forget her, that he was certain of. Just… not like this. “Of course I remember you… I love you.” said Unten. Rachel beamed as she went back to eating her breakfast. Maybe everything had been a dream? ---- “Wow, he is OUT.” said Leah as Volt brought over Unten’s comatose body. Volt seemed uneasy. Something definitely seemed wrong with him and he seemed pretty certain that he had seen this before… well, maybe not seen but he could identify it. Leah and Volt placed him over a hospital bed. “Do you know what’s wrong with him?” asked Volt. Leah snapped on some blue gloves. “Well, I’m about to find out, but you better get out of the room for this part.” she said. Volt got out of the room and his mind wracked with a million electrifying nerves. He wasn’t sure what was happening to Unten, but if it was the Hivemind disease he got on Halloween… well, he wasn’t sure what would happen then. Rachel stood over to the reception desk, glancing at X-Ray’s Gameboy game session. She saw Volt down the hallway and her lips jutted downwards. “Well, what did Leah say?” she asked Volt. “Or is she trying to figure it out?” “She’s trying to figure it out, yeah. She put on some blue gloves and told me to get out of the room.” said Volt. It took Rachel precisely nine seconds to process what Volt said and then she suddenly ran over to the operating room. “Oh hey Rachel,” said Leah as she came in. She dropped the blue gloves in the trash. “Good news, Unten’s cavity is clean as a whistle.” “I didn’t actually… search up his butt. I just… alright. Jeez. God! You get so bent of shape over the stupidest shit!” yelled Leah. “Leave me alone so I can actually see what’s wrong with him.” Rachel left the room and grabbed Volt. ---- Unten had his own car now, which he had no idea how to drive. He tried to get behind the wheel but it was too daunting of a task for him, so he just discreetly sat in the passenger seat as Rachel walked in. She got behind the wheel and exited out of the garage without a second thought behind it. Unten stared out the window. If there was no Threat to stop, no enemy to vanquish… then what did he do all day? It was a life he had never known that he had suddenly dropped himself into. Rachel seemed all too content with the fact that he had seemingly forgot everything too. “Rachel…” he said, facing her. “What was the wedding like?” She didn’t face him as she was too busy watching the road, but she did answer back. “Well… it was a pretty nice day. There were rainclouds but no rain when it began and I decided not to wear the veil cuz we both found it kind of gross looking so… of course, neither of our parents were there but Strafe, Zerita, PalmMan… they were all there. And the typical ceremony began and after we said our vows… we were married. When we exited out, it started raining but we didn’t care; you grabbed me in your arms and started running as we laughed and… you okay?” Unten hid his face, apparent he was crying. It wasn’t exactly something he always thought about but it seemed more or less like his ideal wedding. Maybe not without the absent parents part, but neither really had any family they really cared about. Unten’s parents were a complete mystery to him, and whenever Rachel talked about her parents, it was always a past tense thing. She had abandoned them. “I’m okay.” said Unten. The car pulled into the parking lot for a building that Unten had never seen in his entire life. Rachel stepped out of the car and Unten reluctantly stepped out too. He wasn’t sure what his job was, but he hoped to god it wasn’t doctor or lawyer. He would completely fumble THAT up. As they entered the revolving door, Unten caught sight of X-Ray as a receptionist, talking to Leah. It was evident they were more than friends when Leah leaned in for a kiss and X-Ray followed up. Unten wasn’t exactly sure what to think but both seemed pretty happy. Leah caught sign of Unten and ran over with a clipboard. It was just now that he noticed that Leah’s needle finger had been replaced with a pen. “Can I get you anything?” she asked respectfully, which threw Unten back. She seemed worried about his reaction, which he tensed back into something resembling normal. “Uh… not right now.” he said. Leah wrote something on the clipboard and ran back over to the reception desk. He looked to Rachel, who seemed pretty happy as she walked into a room with a long table and a bunch of chairs. He was still not exactly sure what was going on. “Alright, hey!” shouted PalmMan from the left of the room. “Unten’s here.” “Uh… yes, I am,” replied Unten. “Show me what you got, I suppose…” he said, attempting to be vague as possible. “Well, we’ve been throwing ideas around for the season. We kind of want the season to have sort of a theme I guess? I dunno, we’ve got a Leah and Xerox episode with Bigfoot involved…” said Sakeena. Oh, was he working on a show or something? Admittedly, not something he thought about too often but if he had to have a job he figured working on a TV show would be a good fit for him. “I thought we scrapped that episode.” said Strafe, clearly annoyed. Sakeena rolled her eyes. “Well… show me the script for that and I’ll read through it,” said Unten. Sakeena handed him the script of what she had so far. He furrowed his brow. “Yeah… we’re not doing this.” “Alright then…” stated Sakeena as she propped her feet onto the desk. He noticed something very weird about his friends, in that they all seemed to have rings around their fingers. Judging from the rings themselves, Strafe and Sakeena had gotten married, PalmMan and DragonMan had gotten married, and now that he thought about it he could have sworn that Leah had a ring around her finger too. This made sense to him in a weird way. “So yeah… we need to figure out what this season’s about.” said Sakeena as she looked through her notes. Leah came in with a clipboard. Unten looked to her. “Do you mind getting me a coffee?” he asked. Leah nodded as she wrote it down and then left the room. Unten sat down at the end to discuss his idea as showrunner. ---- “You think Unten’s gonna be okay?” asked Volt to Rachel, who looked vacantly out the coffee shop window. “Well, I certainly hope he is, but I don’t really think that. He looked REALLY bad when we got to him.” said Rachel. She sighed deeply. “I guess it’s not a good idea to dwell on the subject on whether Unten’s gonna die or not, huh.” said Volt, looking at Rachel. Rachel sipped some coffee from her cup and then looked at Volt. “Well, what else is there to talk about? I’ve got nothing going on in my life at the moment except for setting up the Christmas decorations in the apartment. Robyn’s on break and she’s been helping me out with that…” “What did you get her for Christmas?” asked Volt, attempting to have a causal conversation. He sipped a bit of the cup. “I dunno. I asked Logi and Denos for some Galvan artifacts to look at, but none seem really like a Christmas present to me.” Rachel stated before sipping more coffee. Volt almost choked on the coffee. “Probably not a good idea to give her more than one right now, if we’re gonna be honest. The power of two is a lot stronger and I don’t think she’s gotten a grip on the goggles yet.” replied Volt. Rachel seemed to be at loss for her Christmas present, even more so than before. “Well… what do I get her then? She hasn’t exactly given me a wish-list or anything. Leah gave me hers but she gave that to everybody and let’s be fair, I’m probably not give her anything.” said Rachel. Morgan walked over to their table. “Can I get you two anything?” asked Morgan. Volt and Rachel shook their heads no as Morgan walked back to the counter. “Kind of quiet night, huh.” said Volt, glancing around the empty coffee shop. Rachel smiled. “Good pun.” “Oh…” said Volt, now just getting it. Rachel got up and threw her empty coffee cup in the trash. “You done?” asked Rachel. Volt nodded yes as he finished up the cup and walked out of the shop with Rachel. Rachel put her hands in her coat as she walked down the street with Volt, fog escaping her mouth. “I guess we should check back in with Leah.” Volt nodded. ---- Leah had a stapler and a bucket of mistletoe with her as she started stapling some to the top of the door frames. X-Ray was still playing her Game Boy, much to her dismay. She was gonna get SOMETHING this year, whether it was a kiss or someone actually got something on her wish list. The door swung open as Rachel and Volt walked in. Leah sighed as she stepped down from the ladder. Right… Unten’s condition. She had completely forgotten about that. Rachel seemed to had known. “Leah, can you tell us anything about Unten?” asked Rachel. Leah sighed as she went back to the room, Rachel and Volt following her. “Please tell me you didn’t just wait until we left…” “I waited until you guys left.” said Leah. Rachel breathed deeply, as to calm herself and shakily clasped her hands. “Well… can you do it now?” asked Rachel. Leah groaned as she looked at Unten, poking his stomach real quick to emit a quick gurgling cough. “Well, he’s alive.” said Leah. Rachel didn’t seem amused. She took a seat in the room and folded her arms. “I’m not leaving until you have him back to health.” said Rachel. Leah groaned. “What, is he your boyfriend or something? I don’t get why you care so much about this stupid bear...” said Leah. She opened up his mouth. “Bleh, he could bother to brush his teeth once in awhile…” Rachel pointed to her watch as Leah groaned harshly. Volt left the room. ---- Unten headed out of work with Rachel. He suddenly remembered something Rachel told him earlier in the day. “Zerita’s still alive?” he asked his wife. Rachel nodded yes. Unten didn’t know what to say, more out of disbelief than any other factor. Eventually he piped out another question. “Where is she?” “Living out on her own, I think...” said Rachel. She looked at Unten. “Do you wanna see her?” Unten nodded yes and Rachel took the driver’s seat. “I dunno what’s up with my memory… I’m still remembering the dream instead of anything else.” Rachel looked over to him as they backed out of the parking lot. “Well, I hope it comes back to you soon.” she said. “How come you’re not mad at me or even a tiny bit frustrated? I’ve forgotten everything, Rachel. I don’t even know what you wore to your wedding, I don’t know what kinds of stuff we were up to before the wedding, I don’t remember decorating the tree…” he said, worryingly. “Well, I love you Unten,” she said, in a sincere manner that still didn’t feel real to him. “And I’m willing to put up with a lot.” “What do you even see in me?” asked Unten. Rachel pursed her lips. “What?” she asked back. “What do you mean?” “Well… in my dream and what I remember… we weren’t like this. We were close, sure, but… I was the only one in love and you said pretty clearly that you weren’t into me…” said Unten. Rachel seemed like she wasn’t sure what to say. “I mean… you’re a blue alien bear and I guess that took some time to get over but…” she paused. “...I dunno.” This didn’t seem to be the answer Unten was looking for. “I dunno?” asked Unten. “What do you mean…?” “Well… I don’t think I wasn’t in love with you. I know that’s a double negative but…” said Rachel. Unten decided to drop the subject. ---- Volt walked past Sakeena’s neighborhood and came in front of her house. The cold rain didn’t bother him, as it trickled down his glass-like body, heated by inner electricity. He noticed Sakeena’s house had it’s garage open. Curious, he went to see who was working in the garage. Logi and Denos were unpacking a bunch of boxes. Sakeena’s mom stood by the door. “Be sure to clean up whatever you take out in here, alright? It’s bad enough I’ve got three of Sakeena’s friends in here…” “We’ll be quick, mam.” said Denos. Logi didn’t say anything, all he did was simply start cutting up the browned tape that entrapped the cardboard box’s contents. Volt floated inside and the two looked at him. “What’s up?” asked Denos as he cut the box’s tape with his hand spike. Volt sighed. “Unten’s probably got the hivemind disease I got over Halloween and I’m really worried about it. I don’t know if he can fight that off.” he said. Denos finished cutting the box’s tape and got out a plumbus. “The Threat’s hivemind disease? I dunno if that can be cured. I think you were the only one who could actually fight it off.” said Denos. “So… we’re screwed then?” asked Volt said. “Unten’s just gonna be a hivemind slave to Vindozz?” “Vindozz?” asked Logi. Denos seemed surprised too. Volt was confused by their reactions. “...The Threat?” asked Volt. Logi and Denos were paying full attention to him. “Kid… how the hell do you know her name?” asked Denos. He pulled out a green tube and shook it out, a bunch of gold coins popping out. “I… dunno. Is it really that big of a deal?” asked Volt. Denos sighed as he stretched two of his green fingers across his forehead. “What?” “Yeah, it’s a big deal. I only know of it because of well… a friend of mine, a long time before I met Logi, fell under the hivemind disease too.” said Denos. “I dunno how you know of it.” “I had the hivemind disease too, remember? I fought it off.” said Volt. Logi frowned. “Did you?” asked Logi. “How do we know you’re Volt and not the Threat just saying stuff?” “Back off Logi… obviously The Threat wouldn’t be asking for a cure for the hivemind disease. However, I do wonder if there was some sort of side-effect you don’t even know about embedded deep in your brain… or whatever the equivalent of that is.” said Denos. Logi grabbed the plombus. “Whatever. I’m just saying, if he says something like The Threat’s real name… I think there’s something going on in that case.” Volt started getting anxious. “What do you mean by that?” asked Volt, slightly hysterical. Logi looked over to him and cracked a smile. “You think she’s cute, huh?” asked Logi. Volt shook his head no. “How could I? I mean… we’re fighting against her, that’s a fact, right?” asked Volt. Denos sighed. “What happened when you fell under the disease?” asked Denos. “Well… she was there and we talked... “ said Volt. Logi smugly smiled as Denos shot a glance at him. “What did you talk about?” asked Denos. Volt nervously pressed on. “I dunno… stuff,” said Volt. Logi raised an eyebrow. Volt seemed annoyed. “OKAY, maybe she flirted with me. I don’t think she MEANT anything by that though!” Logi broke out in laughter as Denos looked at Volt. “I haven’t had any personal experiences with the Threat herself, but I don’t think that’s something that just happens out of the blue.” “Oh, blue! I think if they were together, that would be her pet name for him…” said Logi. Volt gave Logi a dirty glance. “Shut up!” said Volt, clearly mad. Denos seemed amused. “Well, I don’t know if it’ll work but if you’re up for it, we could create a portal to Svarga. Maybe you could talk to her, figure something out?” proposed Denos. Volt wasn’t sure but he nodded yes anyway. ---- Unten opened the door to find Zerita sitting on a couch with some familiar faces. Queen Pixella, Mioda, Netnu… a lot of them were back. Unten seemed in utter disbelief. “How are you all still alive?” he asked. Zerita got up from the couch. “What do you mean by that?” she asked Unten. Rachel walked over to her, talking softly to Zerita about Unten’s condition. He didn’t like the feeling that he was old… but maybe he was. It was hard to tell what was real and what wasn’t. The life he had forgotten about seemed so perfect but… it also felt unfulfilling. Not much challenged him beyond his terrible memory, which people seemed more than willing to help him out with. He walked over to Netnu, who said nothing to him. “Suppose… you woke from a dream where reality was vastly different and it affected you so much that it’s all you can remember when you wake up. When you wake up… you have everything you ever wanted. But it feels so dull and pointless because you never worked to get it... “ explained Unten. Netnu looked at him. “Well… if you have everything you want, what’s to be unhappy about?” asked Netnu. “I dunno… it’s hard to explain without all the context in the dream and honestly… I just feel too tired to tell anyone about it. As if it’s slipping away from me… being replaced with memories I never experienced firsthand.” “Can’t say I’ve experienced anything like that.” said Netnu. Unten figured he wouldn’t be much help. He crept outside into the pouring rain when a thought came into his mind: What happened to Oliver? ---- He found that Zerita’s house wasn’t too far from the graveyard, on a street with a dead end sign and a literal end of the road. He felt it was too terribly ironic… whatever god was watching him now wanted him to know something. His heart pounded. If this was a reality where he got what he wanted… He ran over to the graves of the cemetery, the dead buried in caskets underground. He came across a grave that he hoped wasn’t there. ’’’OLIVER MANNING’’’ ’’1990 - 2015’’’ ’’Died a jerk.’’ He didn’t like Oliver and he remembered reveling in the moment on Rachel’s Halloween Party where he kicked Oliver right in the nuts. But… dead… he kept that desire deep down and now his wish had killed someone that didn’t probably deserve it. Rachel caught up with him. She took a second to breathe before asking him a question. “What are you doing here?” Unten glanced at the grave and then looked at her. “This isn’t real.” Rachel shook her head. “Unten, come on, you know this is real…” Unten knew she had to be lying. “Rachel, this isn’t real. I know it’s not. No one lives life like this, nobody gets everything they want… even if it’s wrong.” Rachel attempted to get closer to him but he backed away, tripping over Oliver’s tombstone. Suddenly, everything froze and a slow clap came from the left. He looked over to see The Threat in some nice robes, slowly and sarcastically clapping her hands. “Well, now I get to tell you what you already know,” she said. She gave out a quick laugh. Unten stood up and looked at Rachel, frozen in time. “Yes… this is a false reality and one you can never wake up from. Your body is already finishing up the transition process.” “Transition to what?” asked Unten, looking like he was gonna throw a punch. “Oh you know… a slave to one of my hiveminds. I figured trapping you in with your wishes was the best punishment for what you did to Six… oh wait, sorry, the old Six. Not that it really matters about her, I don’t care about her, but the Earth mission… you shouldn’t have messed that up. And now I’ve got you here. Surrounded by your own ugly flaws and desires, in a way that personally disgusts you.” The Threat said. “No... “ softly said Unten, trying to figure it out as The Threat sighed. “Really, it’s kind of sad… I mean, look at your wife,” she said, the worst kind of grin plastered on her face. “You know she’ll never love you like that, but you want her to… just not in this kind of empty life where even the most rebellious people suck up to you.” Unten looked at Rachel for a moment, trying to keep himself together. Why did he look? He knew that only made him look weak in front of The Threat, who was probably the realest thing here beside him. “Honestly, it feels overtly cruel trapping you in such misery but maybe you can make it work. All while in the front of your mind at all times, you wondering what’s happening with your body in reality as it’s controlled by a hivemind that I have full control over...” explained The Threat. Unten felt heavy and ugly, as if he were about to fall in collapse. “Don’t give me that look. I only gave you everything you ever wanted for Christmas this year and this is how you repay me?” The Threat laughed as she disappeared and Unten fell to his knees, feeling the world around him move again. Rain fell down his head, and Rachel went over to comfort him but he pushed her away. ---- “And there… we… go!” hammered Denos as the portal opened. Volt glanced into the purple colored swirling energy as Denos motioned him to go forward. He closed his eyes and jumped in, appearing on the other side in some kind of bizarre reception room. An alien with four eye stalks looked at him and then glanced back on her phone. Volt seemed a bit confused. Wouldn’t the Threat want her to alert somebody or…? He had other matters at hand to worry about, though, and he headed towards a set of a pair of bronze and silver doors, with the faces of Beorns and humans screaming on it, opening it carefully. “Vindozz…” moaned Mistress Nell as she attempted to kiss The Threat’s feet but the Threat kept moving them away from her. “why do you reject my love…?” The Threat noticed the door start to open and she kicked Mistress Nell away. “Go tend to some other business, we have an intruder,” The Threat said. “And I told you to stop calling me Vindozz… oh, why can’t you just follow orders?” Mistress Nell seemed kind of hurt but she went her away. Volt opened the door to a giant, empty throne room. The Threat seemed actually kind of surprised by his sudden appearance, but in a way that seemed good. “Well, well, if it isn’t Blue…” she said, glancing at Volt with all four of her yellow eyes. Volt glanced at her and frowned, thinking about what Logi said. Were they a thing now? He wasn’t sure. It had to be mind games, right? “The Threat…” he started. The Threat’s eyebrows lowered. “I prefer to be called Vindozz, if you don’t mind.” Volt felt even worse than he did before. Crap, maybe they were a thing! But… nobody would ever accept it. He postured himself. Just ask about Unten, he told himself. That’s all he needed to focus on. “I have become aware that you’ve put Unten under the same hivemind virus that you put me under and… well, I was asking if you could… I dunno… cure him or something? I know you’re not, oh who am I kidding...” said Volt, putting his dislocated hands over his floating head. “Well, you’re right about that, I am definitely not doing that.” said Vindozz, crossing her legs. “Well… I don’t even know why I thought you would do that. I mean… am I really that foolish to think that the ‘The Threat’, the big bad, would just… stop her evil plan because I asked nicely? You are the enemy after all but I can’t just can’t see that and I feel so stupid and dumb…” Volt attempted to grasp on something but all he could do was make himself feel bad and pointless. “I’m the bad guy?” asked The Threat. “Do I have to remind you who took over MY universe? Do I have to remind you who has been fighting my armies completely unprompted? I pray you know the answer.” “See… that’s why I feel so… conflicted about everything. I dunno who’s the good guy anymore and… I dunno,” said Volt, putting his arms down. “I guess… I’ll just leave then.” The Threat watched Volt slowly move out of the Throne room, his floating head facing downwards. She didn’t feel anything until he barely budged the door and then she herself felt pretty conflicted. Surely Volt could be a good ally if she managed to convince him she was good, because she was… right? “Volt.” she said, uncrossing her legs as Volt was halfway out the door. He turned around. “What?” he asked. “Look… I suppose I can make an exception this one time, just for you, blue,” she said. She got up and headed to a hall connected to the throne room to the hivemind room. “Consider it a Christmas present, if you will.” Volt was beyond relieved, he wasn’t even considering that it could possibly a trap or anything else that could complicate the situation even more. “Don’t get too cocky though… this is the first and last time I’ll ever do this.” she said. Volt shook his head in understanding as she softly laughed in the distance. He headed back for the portal. ---- Finale soon Category:What is the New Fantendoverse? Category:Short Stories Category:Fantendo Holiday Showcase 2015 Category:Snowytime Writing Contest Category:Fan Fiction